Grand Valley’s offense was outstanding last week against Notre Dame (Ohio), scoring 12 touchdowns on 599 yards of offense. They averaged 7.0 a run and 14.6 per pass completion with no fumbles and one penalty. Tiffin’s defense has allowed an average of 32 points and 358 yards in two games. The Dragons are under their third defensive coordinator in as many years.

How improved with the Lakers defense be? As a contrast to the offense, they struggled mightily against Notre Dame (641 yards allowed). Coach Matt Mitchell spent this week looking for the right combination, especially on the defensive front. The Lakers had been rotating as many as five tackles and nose guards and four ends. That might be tightened this week.

This game will be an elixir for either the Lakers defense or the Tiffin offense. Besides the woes of the GVSU defense, the Dragons’ offense hasn’t been able to run the ball (56 yards a game) and their quarterbacks have been sacked eight times.

The Lakers have been whistled 17 times in two games. Last year they didn’t reach that total until the sixth game. Seven came last week. Penalties might not matter against Tiffin, but another game like this would signal an unsettling trend with tougher games looming later in the season.

Mitchell doesn’t want to let the past dictate the present and Saturday’s game. But the Lakers history against Tiffin is, well, pretty good. They won last year 70-7, a slight dropoff from 71-10 in 2010. In four games in the series, the Dragons have 38 points. The Lakers have 238.